The NYPD needs to fire the cop who killed my brother

For the last five years, my family has fought to ensure that Lt. Jonathan Rivera, the NYPD officer who killed my brother Allan Feliz, is being fired from the department. In 2019, the NYPD wrongfully stopped Allan in his car. After the officers beat and insulted him, Rivera climbed into the passenger seat and shot my brother point-blank in the chest. The officers then dragged my brother out of the car, exposing his genitals. Instead of covering Allan, they handcuffed him and left him to bleed out in the street.

I had to repeat these facts over and over again in hopes that the powers that be would listen and fire Rivera. Instead, my family and I endured years of delays and obstructions from the NYPD and administration.

A disciplinary hearing for Rivera is ultimately scheduled to begin on November 12th. That’s a glimmer of hope, but over the last three years I’ve watched the mayor and his NYPD cronies defend their own interests rather than those of New Yorkers, protecting them from abusive officers like Rivera. Now every day my family reads new stories about the corruption scandals involving the mayor and the NYPD, and we worry about what it all means for Allan’s case.

My family doesn’t believe that Adams or the new police commissioner will do the right thing and fire Rivera for my brother’s murder – unless New Yorkers force them to prioritize the murder. Adams has never made police accountability a priority and right now his biggest concern is saving himself. The interim NYPD commissioner is dealing with his own federal investigation and a police department that has long protected its own police force.

I want New Yorkers to understand that the corruption of the mayor and the NYPD doesn’t just include bribery and soliciting illegal donations – it also includes protecting the department and its officers, no matter what harm they cause. The city’s independent NYPD oversight board based the allegations against the officers who killed Kawaski Trawick on evidence that was as strong as Allan’s case, but the mayor and his NYPD let those officers go.

The number of NYPD misconduct complaints is at an 11-year high, but recent reports from ProPublica show that under Adams, the NYPD buried hundreds of substantiated misconduct cases and sometimes refused to even review the facts of a case , before turning him away.

The mayor’s praise of the police after officers shot four people for evading $2.90 on the subway makes it clear: his priority is to protect himself and the NYPD, not New Yorkers. We need to uncover the truth about this corruption, just as we need the truth about the acts for which Adams was charged.

The disciplinary proceedings against Rivera should be completed. Not only are the facts surrounding my brother’s murder egregious, Rivera also has a significant history of misconduct with at least 41 allegations. The mayor and commissioner’s only fair decision is to fire Rivera without access to his pension or a good letter that allows him to carry a gun. Anything less will just be a continuation of this administration’s corrupt pattern of letting officials who commit violence and misconduct go without consequences for their actions.

October 17th marks five years since the NYPD killed my brother and we still miss him every day. Allan’s life mattered. He should be here with us, raising his four-year-old son. Instead, his child is growing up without a father, and my family and I are still fighting for some semblance of justice while our city’s government appears to be unraveling. My family just wants Rivera fired so he is no longer a threat to New Yorkers and we can begin to heal from this life-changing trauma.

Samy Feliz is the brother of Allan Feliz, who was killed by an NYPD officer in 2019.

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